Cruz established the Boomstick Foundation, and has made it a priority to give back to those in need not only in his native Dominican Republic, but in Seattle and other communities in the U.S.

At the event, the first-ever Boomstick Scholarship was awarded to Diana Antigua, a student from the Bronx, who “represents the ideals and values needed to succeed in life.”

Nelson Cruz, New York State Senator Adriano Espaillat and Robinson Canó at the Boomstick & Friends event in New York to honor Cruz for his philanthropic efforts.

Earlier this year, Cruz in conjunction with the MLB Players Association, donated wheelchairs as well as other orthopedic necessities to his hometown of Las Matas de Santa Cruz in the Dominican Republic. He has also held baseball clinics for youth, and has donated baseball and softball equipment to leagues back home. Last year, Cruz became a spokesman for Aid for AIDS and its “Un Batazo Contra El VIH,” (A Hit Against HIV).

Cruz has also donated a fire truck and ambulances to his hometown fire department, and over the winter, he worked with the Seattle Fire Department to collect used equipment to outfit the community’s firefighters.

Cruz credits his parents as his inspiration for teaching him the value of education, and setting an example of giving back to the community. Both of Cruz’s parents were teachers, and his father was instrumental in establishing his community’s first fire station.

Senator Adriano Espaillat, member of the New York state senate, and a native of the Dominican Republic, presented Cruz with a Proclamation from the New York State Senate, for his great contributions to society & the youth.

Nelson Cruz meets with Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins at the end of the 2015 season.

Last September, Nelson Cruz had an idea about helping the fire department back home in the Dominican Republic.

Back in 2012, while he was with the Texas Rangers, Nelson bought a fire truck and donated it to the Las Matas de Santa Cruz Fire Department, which provides service to tens of thousands of people in the surrounding area.

The fire truck was important, but the community is very poor, and the firefighters didn’t have the equipment they needed to safely and properly do their jobs.

Nelson wondered if there was any surplus equipment that the Seattle Fire Department no longer needed. So, he took a meeting with Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins. Turns out, this is just the kind of thing Scoggins used to encourage when he was Chief of the Glendale, California Fire Department.

Over the next few months, as equipment aged out of its useful life for SFD purposes, it was set aside. Before long, Chief Scoggins says a U-Haul-sized truck of “bunking gear” had been collected – boots, pants, jackets, gloves – all equipment that is necessary to safely fight fires.

Recently, Nelson Tweeted out a photo of himself and members of the Las Matas de Santa Cruz Fire Department wearing the boots, coats and helmets.

“It made me realize how bad we needed a fire truck when one of my good friends lost his house because we didn’t have any vehicle to provide water to extinguish the fire. Since that day I was committed to find a fire truck and buy it and make sure we have what we need,” said Nelson.

Chief Scoggins has offered to host firefighters from Cruz’s hometown in Seattle so they can train and learn from Seattle firefighters.

“We did this with our sister cities in Mexico while I was in California. It’s a great cross-cultural experience for us and for them. Maybe we’re building to that here,” said Chief Scoggins.

It has been a busy time for the Mariners baseball operations department during the last few weeks, as the group has been putting its team together not just on the field, but in the front office. As ESPN’s Jayson Stark noted on twitter, “Jerry Dipoto is the early leader for most hyperactive GM. Already two trades involving nine players, one signing (Gutierrez) and two waiver claims!”

General Manager Jerry Dipoto, VP & Assistant G.M. Jeff Kingston, VP of Player Personnel Tom Allison & Special Assistant to the G.M. Joe Bohringer were in Boca Raton, FL for the G.M. meetings during the early part of this week and at the conclusion of those sessions, they made a trip to the Dominican Republic.

Dipoto, Kingston, Allison and Bohringer were joined at the Mariners Dominican Baseball Academy by Manager Scott Servais and Mariners slugger Nelson Cruz. The group will be there through the weekend checking in with the staff and players and watching games during the instructional league at the academy before they return home to Seattle.

After a highly productive first season with the Mariners, Nelson Cruz continues to receive some recognition for his efforts. Today it was announced that he was named to the Sporting News A.L. All-Star team as the designated hitter. It is his first career selection to the SN All-Star team. The 2015 team was chosen by a panel of 22 American League executives before the postseason began.

Career Bests – Set career highs in runs (90), hits (178), home runs (44) and walks (59).

40 HR – 69th player in MLB history to log multiple 40-HR seasons in a career.

Mariners with 40+ HR – 4th player in Mariners history to record a 40-HR season, first since Alex Rodriguez (41) in 2000: Ken Griffey Jr. (6), Jay Buhner (3), Alex Rodriguez (3)…2nd player to record a 40-HR season during the Safeco Field era (opened July 1999).

Back-to-Back – First player since Miguel Cabrera (2012-2013) to record consecutive 40-homer seasons…53rd player with consecutive 40-HR seasons.

Safeco Slugger – Hit 17 home runs at Safeco Field this season, T4th-most in ballpark history…club record is 21 by Richie Sexson in 2005.

All-Star – Voted as the starting designated hitter for the American League…4th All-Star game selection (2009, 2013-2015) and second start (also: 2014).

All-Star Game – Went 0-for-2, hitting cleanup as the designated hitter during the All-Star game.

Small Setback – Missed 6 games Sept. 4-9 with a strained right quad…hit just .247 (20×81) after his return.

The Streak – Reached base safely in a career-high 37 consecutive games July 18-Aug. 27 (previous personal best was 25 G in 2010 with Texas)…active on-base streak was the 3rd-longest in American League in 2015 and 6th-longest in Majors…during streak hit .355 (54×152) with 32 runs, 9 doubles, 18 home runs and a 1.200 OPS (.430 OBP/.770 SLG)…streak was extended via hit 34 times, walk 2 times, hit-by-pitch 1 time…streak is 12th-longest in franchise history, and longest since 43-game streak by Ichiro in 2009 (record is 47 by Alvin Davis in 1984).

Extra Base Streak – Recorded an extra-base hit in 9 consecutive games July 31-Aug. 9, the 2nd-longest streak in club history…trails only a club-record 10-game streak by Ken Griffey Jr. July 19-29, 1993 (including his 8-game HR streak).

Right Side Pop – Hit 44 home runs, tying the Mariners record for most home runs by a right-handed hitter (Jay Buhner, 44 in 1996).

Road Warrior – Hit a Major League leading 27 home runs on the road in 2015, which were T3rd-most in club history behind Ken Griffey Jr. (29 in 1997), Alex Rodriguez (28 in 2000) & tied with Jay Buhner (27 in 1997).

Home Runs Before Break – 8th Mariner with 20 or more home runs prior to the All-Star break (18th time).

Walk Off – Recorded 8th career walk-off RBI with 1B off Junichi Tazawa in the 9th 5/15 vs. BOS (last: 4/19/15 against TEX Neftali Feliz, 1B).

Player of the Month – Named AL Player of the Month for April…first career POM Award and the first Mariners position player to earn a monthly award since Ichiro in August 2004…in 22 G in April batted .322 (28×87) w/10 HR, 3 2B, 3B, 22 RBI.

Player of the Week – Named American League Player of the Week for April 13-19…hit .500 (12×24), 7 R, 6 HR, 10 RBI, 1.806 OPS.

#200 – Hit 200th career home run April 13 at Los Angeles (NL), a first-inning 2-run homer.

5 Straight…Twice – Homered in 5 consecutive games July 31-Aug. 4, his second home run streak of 5 games in 2015…is 5th player in MLB history to homer in at least 5 consecutive games twice in the same season: Harmon Killebrew (1970 Twins), Frank Thomas (1994 White Sox), Barry Bonds (2001 Giants), Chase Utley (2008 Phillies)…also homered in 5 consecutive games April 11-15 (6 HR during streak)…tied for 2nd-longest home run streak in club history: Griffey Jr., 8; Cruz, Buhner (2x), Zisk, A. Rodriguez all 5 games.

April Showers – 10 HR in April were 3rd-most in club history (Ken Griffey Jr. – 13 in ‘97, 11 in ‘98)…10 HR were most in any April in his career (had 7 in ‘11 and ‘10) and 2nd-most in a single month (13 in May 2014).

Fresh off a 44-home run season, Mariners All-Star Nelson Cruz raised the 12th Man Flag prior to last night’s Monday Night Football game vs. the Detroit Tigers. Nelson fired up the crowd of 69,005 prior to the thrilling 13-10 Seahawks win.

Cruz had a banner first season in a Mariners uniform, batting .302 with 44 home runs and 93 RBI.

Here are a few videos from the 12th Man Flag-raising event last night at Century Link Field:

The Mariners answered a challenge (by the Orioles) and are now challenging the Rays in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Nelson Cruz, Brad Miller and Mike Zunino were showered with ice cold water to help raise awareness for Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

John Oakley of Spokane is on a mission to visit every Major League Baseball Stadium.

The Mariners and Major League Baseball are participating in the second year of the #ALSIceBucketChallenge. Throughout the month of August, each club will host its own challenge and will then challenge another franchise, along with two other local personalities or organizations, to partake.

As a part of the initiative, MLB is donating $100,000 to The ALS Association. The funds will be used to further collaborative efforts between several organizations. Fans can join MLB by donating at ALSIceBucketChallenge.org and to make donations to an ALS organization of their choosing.

Nelson Cruz heads into today’s series and road trip finale vs. the Rockies (12:10 pm PT/ROOT Sports) having homered in each of his last 5 games (oh, and a current 15-game hitting streak). This is his second 5-game homer streak of the season (April 11-15), joining Harmon Killebrew (1970 Twins), Frank Thomas (1994 White Sox), Barry Bonds (2001 Giants) and Chase Utley (2008 Phillies) as the only other players in MLB history to homer in 5 consecutive games twice in one season [Elias Sports Bureau]. The last player to homer in 6 consecutive games was Chris Davis (Baltimore) in 2012.

Cruz’s home run streak is now tied for 2nd-longest in Mariners history, trailing only the MLB-tying record by Ken Griffey Jr. in 1993.

Here is a video look at each of the home runs during his current 5-game home run streak:

Cruz HR Streak:

7/31 at Minnesota (9th inning, off J.R. Graham)
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8/1 at Minnesota (6th inning, off Kyle Gibson)
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8/2 at Minnesota (9th inning, off Glen Perkins)
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8/3 at Colorado (2nd inning, off Eddie Butler)
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8/4 at Colorado (7th inning, off Scott Oberg)
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